Marijuana Blog

Medical marijuana patients have been waiting a long time in Connecticut to get safe access to medicine. It appears that the wait is over. Late last week it was announced that the first crop of legal medical marijuana is ready for distribution. Per CT Now:

Sales of medical marijuana in Connecticut are expected to begin next week as the first grower prepares to make shipments to dispensaries around the state, nearly two years after the state legalized the use of marijuana to relieve symptoms of some chronic illnesses.

“We are on track to make a Monday delivery,” Daniel Emmans, chief operating officer at Theraplant LLC in Watertown, said Friday. “Over the weekend, we will be arranging the deliveries at the dispensaries.”

Six dispensaries have been licensed by the state to sell medical marijuana, and those contacted Friday said it was likely sales would begin one day after shipments were received at their storefronts. That could put medical marijuana for sale as early as Tuesday.

Prices for medical marijuana in Connecticut are expected to be between $17 and $20 per gram. To an Oregonian, where prices are less than half of that, I find those prices to be incredibly high. However, I’d like to hear from Connecticut residents to see if those prices are average for the area. Right now there is only one producer, so as more producers come on line, hopefully those prices drop. It makes me sad when price gouging occurs because this should be about patients, not profits.

Presidential OG is of the Kush variety, primarily indica and has a balanced cerebral and body high. This strain is known to have a sweet aroma and a slight earthy flavor. Works well for anxiety and migraines.

A local news segment went up in smoke when a reporter quit her job on air after making a rather surprising announcement Sunday night. Charlo Greene, a reporter for KTVA-TV in Anchorage, Alaska, revealed that she’s the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, a business that connects medical marijuana cardholders in need of ganj with medical marijuana cardholders in possession of ganj.

In the above clip (which contains a bit of NSFW language) Greene says she will be dedicating all her energy toward “fighting for freedom and fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska.” Then she adds, “And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice, but f–k it. I quit.”

The station soon apologized on Facebook:

Dear Viewers,

We sincerely apologize for the inappropriate language used by a KTVA reporter during her live presentation on the air tonight. The employee has been terminated.

Bert Rudman

News Director – KTVA 11 News

Now we’re left with just one question: can someone really be “terminated” after saying “F–k it, I quit?”

Greene herself also took to social media on Monday to explain herself. She shared the following video on the Alaska Cannabis Club’s YouTube page to offer more insight into her decision to quit, to debunk myths about marijuana legalization and to share her passion for the cause:

Jack Flash takes Jack Herer's gene-pool and crosses it with Super Skunk and Haze. The sativa-dominant Jack Flash is astounding in every way, its flavor, yield and mind-body potency are virtually unparalleled. Provides a quick-hitting high that is good for hanging out with good friends.

A new report has found nearly 1 in 10 Americans are showing up to work high on marijuana. Mashable.com conducted the survey in partnership with SurveyMonkey, and found 9.7 percent of Americans fessed up to smoking cannabis before showing up to the office.

The data analyzed the marijuana and prescription drug habits of 534 Americans. What's more, nearly 81 percent said they scored their cannabis illegally, according to the survey.

Cannabis and the workplace seem quite linked lately. Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel recently chimed in on marijuana and work. While criticizing Twitter during an appearance on CNBC Wednesday, Thiel said Twitter is a "… horribly mismanaged company—probably a lot of pot smoking going on there."

According to separate data from Employers, a small-business insurance company, 10 percent of small businesses reported that employees showed up in 2013 under the influence of at least one controlled substance, with marijuana coming in at 5.1 percent.

Marijuana sales overall are taking off as recreational use of cannabis is legal in Colorado and Washington state, and pot can be purchased for medicinal use in 23 states and Washington, D.C.

So what's an employer to do?

Companies have different strategies and opinions on testing. But the vast majority of U.S. employers aren't required to test for drugs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, many state and local governments have statutes that "limit or prohibit workplace testing, unless required by state or Federal regulations for certain jobs."